A homeowner in Bay Ridge Brooklyn decided to have their sewer replaced after dealing with sporadic backups over the last year. The sewer line had yet to completely fail however; this family was not willing to take any chances. The time span in-between having to clear the line had shortened from every 6 months, to a 2 month span most recently. The homeowner’s plumber had performed a camera inspection on the sewer line which identified the majority of the sewer pipes problem on the property, the old clay pipe had completely separate in several locations.
Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors was chosen as the NYC sewer contractor to replace the old pipe on the property with new 6” extra heavy cast iron pipe. Most excavations for a sewer line replacement are performed with a backhoe due to the depth of the sewer line and the amount of digging required to make the replacement. This particular job would not allow for a backhoe due to the layout of the property, there was a large steel fence that could not be removed in addition to the front yard being elevated form the sidewalk. The Harris Water field crew had to dig the entire property by hand.
The digging began at 8:30AM; the crew had to dig a total of 40’ from the house to the property line and almost 8’ deep. There was a lot of work that had to be completed while avoiding damage to other utilities or lawn sprinklers.
On the first day of digging by hand, the crew was able to locate the old clay pipe and dig-out 75% of the property, in preparation for the new pipe installation to take place on the following day. The clay pipe was not removed on day 1, the homeowners were staying in the house while the work was being performed and requested usage of their bathrooms overnight.
The sewer crew had finished digging the property on day 2 and installed the new 6”cast iron pipe before backfilling and tamping the soil to avoid any sinkholes in the property. All tamping is performed with a machine known as a “jumping jack” which is used to compact the soil upon completion of all water main and sewer main installations.
Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors was able to provide service for the sewer line replacement under special circumstances while keeping to the original quote for excavating with a machine. In other similar cases, the surrounding fence would have been removed to allow for a quick excavation process using a backhoe. This particular homeowner was adamant about not removing the fence as it was originally installed in several feet of concrete when the house was built. Harris was able to adapt to the special needs, plan the replacement accordingly and providing a fully functional sewer line for the homeowners within 2 days.
